Top 100 reasons to be hyped up for the World Cup - Part 3

MIES (Switzerland) - In less than 100 days, the FIBA Basketball World Cup tips off in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

We've selected 100 good reasons to look forward to, with relish, international basketball's biggest and most competitive tournament.

You can check out reasons 100 to 76 here. and reasons 75 to 51 here.

Here are reasons 50 to 26.

50

Ranking.

Spain will defend the title they won at the 2019 World Cup, and also try to retain top spot in the FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike. Results of games at the World Cup will for sure affect the ranking.

49

Sweet revenge?

Angola beat Philippines 84-81 in an overtime thriller at the last World Cup, in China. The rematch is on Sunday, August 27, at 8:00pm local time at Araneta Coliseum. Will home-court advantage make the difference this time for Gilas?

48

Who will pour in the points for USA?

In 2019, Kemba Walker (14.4 points per game) and Donovan Mitchell (13.1 ppg) were USA's top scorers at the World Cup. In 2014, it was James Harden (14.2 ppg) and Klay Thompson (12.7 ppg) while in 2010, the amazing Kevin Durant (22.8 ppg) led the way.

47

Will Rudy Gobert block more shots than in 2019?

The France center, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year in the NBA, swatted eight shots in nine games at the 2014 World Cup and rejected 15 in eight games in 2019.

46

Will Rudy Fernandez tie Luis Scola and Ubiratan Pereira for the most games played ever at the World Cup?

The recently retired Scola of Argentina and Brazil legend Ubiratan share the record of 41 World Cup games played for their national teams. Spain captain Fernandez has 33 games under his belt after playing at the World Cups in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2019. If Spain reach the Final in Manila and Rudy plays in all eight games, he will equal the record.

45

Will Jordan Clarkson make more half-court shots?

Clarkson was unbelievable when he played for the Philippines in the Asian Qualifiers. You can expect him to take care of the buzzer prayers for Gilas.

 

44

Will this be Pat Mill's last dance at the World Cup?

The Australian played a tournament high 271 minutes at the 2019 World Cup, roughly 34 per contest. Mills will be 35 in August, and 39 at the 2027. Enjoy watching him while you can!

43

The top scorer in the history of European club competitions, Nando De Colo, will go for the gusto with France.

In his 14th season in a European club competition, De Colo leapfrogged Greek legend Nikos Galis into first place all time with 4,917 points scored, as of February 2023. After taking a year off from international basketball, De Colo is back and determined to win in 2023 with Les Bleus.

42

Single bedrooms.

For the first time ever at a FIBA event, players will have single rooms. The player’s experience will be a priority this summer.

41

With Freddy in town, will it be Nightmare on Manila Street for teams that face Jordan?

Can Freddy Ibrahim top his miracle finish at last summer's Asia Cup, when his dream-like finish for Jordan allowed them to stun Chinese Taipei?

 

40

Celebrity fans.

Because basketball superstars are some the coolest dudes on the planet, there should be some celebrity basketball fans showing up to watch them at the World Cup. Keep an eye out for the famous fans at venues!

39

Admire USA and Brazil for their historical consistency.

Here's the list of teams that have participated in all 19 editions of the World Cup since 1950.
USA and Brazil.

That's it. That's the list.

38

Who can hit the mark like Marc in 2019?

Marc Gasol won the World Cup in China and the NBA title with the Toronto Raptors the same year. Lamar Odom is the only other player to have pulled off that feat, in 2010, with USA and the Lakers.

37

Full circle for Roy Rana.

Rana, who holds the reins of Egypt, became the only coach to lead Canada to a championship at a global level at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in Cairo, Egypt, in 2017. Now Rana is head coach of Egypt, who are in the World Cup for the first time since 2014 and for only the second time since 1994.

 36

This record won't fall.

Nikos Galis scored 337 points at the World Cup 1986 in 10 games. At the 2023 World Cup, the finalists will only play eight games, so to beat this record, a player would have to average 42.3 points per game! Is anyone up to the task?

35

This record could fall.

Can anyone beat the number of 35 three-pointers at the World Cup made by Bogdan Bogdanovic of Serbia (2019) and Larry Ayuso of Puerto Rico (2002)? Bogdanovic drilled 53 percent of his attempts four years ago in China, while Ayuso buried 43.2 percent in Indianapolis.

34

Breaking through the 34-point wall.

At the 2019 World Cup, four players scored as many as 34 points in a single game. They were Japan's Yuta Watanabe, Jordan's Dar Tucker, Jordan's Ahmad Al Dwairi and Australia's Pat Mills. Will someone own the record of the biggest scoring game on his own this year?

Food for thought - at EuroBasket 2022, Luka Doncic had 47 against France and Lauri Markkanen 43 against Croatia.

33

Chance for Yuta to break his personal record in front of fans.

That 34 points (see above, No. 34) that Yuta Watanabe scored was against Montenegro, which stands as his personal best for the national team at the senior level. After a breakout season with the Brooklyn Nets and now with passing sensation Yuki Kawamura in the backcourt, Watanabe could be in line for a new person record!

32

"Grand Theft Alvarado".

Jose Alvarado was brilliant when he played for Puerto Rico in the summer of 2022, showing he can do much more than his signature defensive move. On the defensive front, he could very well lead Group B in steals this summer.

 

31

Small populations, huge hearts. Record-setters... once again?

Montenegro and Cape Verde may be countries with the smallest populations that have teams at the World Cup, yet don't mistake lower populace for lower quality. These teams pack a mean punch. Could they also become the smallest nations in terms of population to make it to the Quarter-Finals since Israel in 1954?

30 

Group of Death's final verdict.

Two teams only will emerge from the true "group of death" in Okinawa. Germany, Finland, Australia and Japan. Wow.

29

Wael Arakji.

Canada, France and Latvia have so much talent that they're already making headlines in Jakarta yet FIBA Asia Cup 2022 MVP Wael Arakji makes Lebanon a legitimate darkhorse in Group H. Don't sleep on the Cedars!

28

La Vinotinto de las alturas

Venezuela averaged 7.4 steals per game in the Americas Qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup and then 7.4 steals per game in China. If the Qualifiers were a true indicator of what was to come at the big event, then what about the 2023 World Cup? Venezuela led all teams with 10.7 steals per game in the Americas Qualifiers!

27

A possible record number of NBA players?

In 2019, there was 54 NBA players participating at the World Cup for 17 countries. This record could be broken in 2023 says NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum: "Twenty countries at least are going to have some NBA players. NBA players are going to be everywhere at this World Cup."

26

See if Milos Teodosic joins Oscar Schmidt and Wlamir Marques?

The point guard from Serbia is the only active player already with two appearances in the World Cup All-star Five (2010 and 2014). He wasn't with Serbia at the last World Cup, nor at EuroBasket 2022, yet the 36-year-old is playing at a very high level. In the history of the competition, only two players, both from Brazil, have been selected three times to the All-Star Five: Wlamir Marques (1954, 1959, 1963) and Oscar Schmidt (1978, 1986, 1990).

This article was done by the Editorial team for promotional purposes and does not reflect in any sense FIBA’s official views on the competition.

 FIBA